Loss of Innocence in Lord of the Flies Essay Example

“Come on! I’ll creep up and stab” (pg64). When the boys first got to the island they were children, but over time they slowly turned into savages. In the fictional book, The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the boys completely lose their innocence. All the children started to work together on the island to survive in the beginning. They all contributed to keeping the fire going in the hope of being found. But with the discovery of the pig, the boys slowly started to become animals. The boys started to only care about hunting rather than being found. After the hunters realized they'd rather hunt the pig than being saved, they branched off and created their own civilization. In the beginning, the boys all worked together to survive. But with time they split over a disagreement about working to be saved or hunting to survive. The split turned the boys into savages and made them completely lose any innocence they had. 

The hunters became complete savages when they discovered the idea of hunting the pig on the island. “We needed meat.” Jack stood up as he said this, the bloodied knife in his hand.” (pg71). Jack stopped caring about the importance of working together and focused on hunting. “At last the words of the chant floated up to them, across the bowl of blackened wood and ashes. “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.”(pg69) The hunters had gone off the deep end, they praised the pig they killed and only cared about hunting it. The boys turned savage had absolutely lost  any innocence that they had. Ralph tried to keep them from turning into animals but at this point it was no use, they were too far gone. When the pig was discovered on the island the boys became savages. 

The children stole anything they wanted. “So did I,” said Eric. “When I woke up one was kicking me in the face. I got an awful bloody nose, I think, Ralph. But I did it in the end.” (pg168) Jack and his tribe broke into the boys huts in the middle of the night. “The chief led them, trotting steadily, exulting in his achievement. He was chief now in truth; he made stabbing motions with his spear, from his left hand.” (pg 168) When breaking into the boys huts in the middle of the night, they stole Piggy's glasses to make a fire. They left the boys with no fire and piggy with no glasses. The boys took whatever they wanted, they were absolute savages. 

Hunting pigs wasn't the only thing that made them savages, they even killed their own friends. “The rock bounded twice and was lost in the forest. Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red.” (pg 181) Jack's tribe had no money. They killed Piggy and had no remorse. “See? See? That's what you get! I meant that! There isn't a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone.” He ran forward without stopping. “I am the chief.” (pg181) Jack took over and had complete control of the boys. They did everything he said. Even if that meant killing their own friends. They went after Piggy, killed him, and didn’t have an ounce of guilt. The innocence of killing the pig spiralled into a brutal murder. 

In the beginning of the story all of the boys worked together but when a disagreement struck and split the boys turning some of them into complete savages. With the discovery of the pig the group of kids split, most of them choose hunting over being found. The savage boys took everything they wanted including the boys' fire and piggy's glasses. Not only did they steal Piggy’s glasses they went as far as taking Piggy’s life. This shows that in the real world people can change in an instant. The world is a scary place and people can change and become someone that is no longer a person but a savage animal.